Forum Discussion
Password change error message too generic on Windows Server 2025 domain
Hi everyone,
In two different production environments running on Windows Server 2025 (fresh Active Directory installations), users reported an issue when trying to change their password via Ctrl+Alt+Del → Change a password.
If the new password doesn't meet complexity requirements, the system returns only a generic error:
"Unable to change the password at this time."
There’s no indication that the failure is due to the password not meeting policy requirements (length, complexity, history, etc.), which creates confusion and unnecessary support tickets.
In previous environments running on Windows Server 2016 or 2019, the error message was more informative, clearly stating when a password was too weak or did not meet domain policy.
Is this generic message a known change in Windows Server 2025?
Has anyone else encountered the same issue?
Is there any way to re-enable the more detailed error descriptions?
Thanks in advance for any insight!
1 Reply
“In Server 2025, when the new password doesn’t meet one of the domain’s password rules (length, complexity, history, etc.), the system often shows a generic error — “Unable to change the password at this time.” Unfortunately, Windows does not always reveal exactly which rule failed. To clarify the cause, you can enable audit logging on the domain controllers and examine their security logs when the user’s change fails. That usually reveals the specific rule being violated (e.g. “too short,” “no uppercase,” “reused password”).
